


Mushroom Stew for Two

by Kissa



Category: Dr. Erik Selvig, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 17:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5594806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kissa/pseuds/Kissa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Thor is domestic and wears tracksuits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mushroom Stew for Two

**Author's Note:**

> Áss - Norse word for Asgardian.

There is a place, not too far from Stockholm, on a small island with a patch of forest and a comfortable home, where Dr. Erik Selvig is just a guy with a boat and a grill pan. Out there, it’s hard to see other humans unless you really want to, and for that he has to use his boat, which is pretty hard when there’s only trace amounts of blood in your vodka. 

No one knows about this place and Erik loves it this way, as this is the only spot where he gets to enjoy his peace and quiet, far away from holes in the sky and the ineptitudes of his students, which he has to read at length in the papers he has to grade. He’s also grateful for the short breaks in which he doesn’t need to babysit Darcy and Jane, because making sure that Jane doesn’t find the off switch for the Universe while looking for shortcuts into Thor’s pants is exhausting. Darcy is more self-containing, but she can be draining to have around all the time, too.

Here, on his island, he can recharge and do whatever the fuck he wants, when he wants to. It’s the biggest luxury he can think of, considering that even Stark cannot take a holiday whenever he wants to and just drop off the face of the Earth. 

He brought enough supplies to last him a week, added to the wonderful berries and Chanterelles the forest gift him with. 

So now he’s sitting on a log near a fire, making a rustic mushroom stew with caramelized onion and rice cream when it starts to rain, not much, just a few droplets here and there, but it makes Erik fear for the consistency of his dinner. 

“If you could rain around my pan, that would be great, thanks,” he says, smiling, very pleased to see the rain change pattern immediately and fall at a decent distance from him and his pan. 

He’s gotten used to the visits from Thor, though he is not sure what the Guy of Thunder (Thor is always adamant about not being a god) sees in him, when he could be off hanging out with Jane and letting her play with his hammer. 

“Is there enough for me to have a taste as well, Erik?” Thor asks, making the rain stop and approaching. He considerately didn’t hop off the Bifröst directly onto Selvig’s island, because that is rude to the soil. Usually, he arrives from Asgard on the roof of the Avengers building in Stockholm and rents a boat from there or just flies to where he needs to go. 

“Did you seriously just come down from Asgard for my mushroom stew?” Erik cheekily asks. “And yes, there’s enough to feed us both. I made fresh bread this morning, too.” 

If he wasn’t so aware of his frailty and mortality in contrast to Thor, he would think that these very frequent visits were dates. Thor usually comes to him when he’s alone, they usually eat something together, either brought by Thor or cooked by Erik, they talk, Thor mostly asking questions about life on Earth and astrophysics (his questions are way more pertinent than those of his Astrophysics PhD students!), Thor helps around the house a bit, they have a drink and then he leaves. 

“That sounds most inviting. I have brought us some fruit to crown our dinner.” Thor says, producing a small basket of shiny, golden apples with a lovely pink tint. Pink Lady, most likely. 

Come to think of it, Thor always brings gifts. Small, but meaningful and always things that Erik is missing at the moment or is looking for. 

***

Thor never came to see him in his full battle gear. But even in a tracksuit, it’s impossible not to be in awe of the blond Áss and the casual clothing does little towards helping him blend in. 

They had finished eating the stew and were relaxing in the sauna, each eating an apple from the ones that Thor had brought. 

“You don’t have to be nice to me, you know? Jane makes her own decisions.” Erik said, having finished his apple, of which he left only the little stem. “I am not the father figure she seeks approval from… I’m the co-worker she hopes to see wearing pants more often.”

Thor looked up at him and slightly shook his head, shrugging, thus making the pearls of water that settled on his bare skin displace and travel downhill over his bare torso. 

“I am not being nice, Erik. It is not in my nature to act with shielded intent,” Thor said. “I have taken a liking to you and I hope it is not ill-met.” 

“Well I am not the cool father figure everyone thinks I am. I am broken in more ways than most other men and I would like to spend my twilight years treating myself to small pleasures and expertly dodging the Reaper for as long as possible. I don’t have the energy or the will to play any more roles and serve other people’s selfish purposes. The fact that I survived your brother’s scheming is already as lucky as someone like me can get.”

His life entailed a great deal of loneliness and many moments of utter despair. Erik had been married once, but his wife had left upon realizing she would never come before the work in her husband’s book. He’d had no children and the only being he shared his free time with was Pants the cat, an elderly Exotic Shorthair rescue, whom Darcy and Ian had found and whom they had given to Erik because the older Swede had a house with a yard and garden. And of course, there was that time when Loki used him as a puppet, after his scepter poisoned Erik's mind.

“I already have a father, I am not looking for a second,” Thor said, “but I am considering a mate.” 

Erik blinked several times, staring at the Asgardian who was currently butt-naked and sprawling unselfconsciously on the opposite bench. Next, he threw his head back and laughed heartily for a long time. 

“This is in poor taste even for Stark,” Erik muttered. “What is wrong with that man, he is a sociopath… for dragging you into this. Do you even see me?” He said. 

Thor looked hurt when he spoke next. 

“This is not a jest planned by your friend Stark. Does my interest vex you so?” 

Erik watched him carefully and chose his words more thoughtfully next. 

“I did not laugh at your words, but at the notion that of all the hot humans you are surrounded by… you’re drawn to me. I am old, you know? For my world, I am at the age where romance and dating should no longer be of any concern. On this planet, it’s considered perverse to have sex with old people when you’re young and hot.” 

 

“I am neither of Earth, nor young and the notion that souls have a best before date is foreign to me.” Thor spoke. “I know only that I feel happy when I am with you.” 

“That’s very honest and open and I appreciate that. I like you too. Only… I’m also not that much into sex. Never was, not even in my youth."

“A place to warm my manhood is not the only thing I look for in a lover, Erik,” Thor pointed out. 

Erik sighed. It was really, really hard to resist. He had always had a soft spot for the man, erm, god, even when he thought him to be some delusional loon trying to take advantage of Jane. His heart had whispered to him that the blond stranger was not an evil or devious man and it had taken them but minutes spent together talking over a drink for Erik’s skepticism to melt away. 

“Well I guess you know no one on this planet can say no to you… and I really want to say yes. But our lifespans are short, and I am nearing the end of mine.”

“True, but I thought of that as well, which is why I kindly asked Iðunn for some of her lovely apples. You will not need to worry about aging and losing your strength for a very long time now.” 

Selvig swallowed hard. He hadn’t been given a choice in that, had he? But he could not resent Thor. He hadn’t been feeling old per se before either, but he’d been dreading the slow deterioration of his abilities as time went by. Now that was taken care of.

“Do not fret so much, Erik. No one’s fate is set in stone. I might die in battle long before your time or mine comes. Let us rather enjoy this moment, when we are both alive and well.”

Erik smiled, then shrugged and scooted closer with a smooth slide. He already felt different. Better. Younger. The apple had already begun its magical work, slowly, but surely erasing the scars of time from Erik’s face and body, although the man still looked like his current self, just… not deteriorating. 

But that was completely secondary and Erik himself was unaware of anything else beside Thor, who was kissing him right now, and by all the constellations of the mapped Universe, being touched by the man did feel like being in the eye of the storm. From that one, first, electrifying touch on, Erik knew he would not be able to live without Thor in his life, nor get enough of him. He wondered if Thor was aware of his impact on smaller, more fragile life forms such as mortals and whether he used that knowledge to have his way. But that was more of a Loki thing to think and do. 

Later, in bed, Erik discovered how much more generous with his attentions Thor could be when he was responded to in kind. He was also surprised by how nonchalantly Thor used magic to make their encounter comfortable, making sure they were both clean, fragrant and welcoming to each other in every way. 

Erik had been with men, women and a few other genders in his youth, and he found, somewhat sadly, that he had forgotten how good it felt to share himself with another living being, especially one as glorious as Thor. He wondered if Thor knew that, while vehemently denying he was a god, he embodied the essence of one, having the power to destroy and cause pain, but instead choosing to be loving and protective of those less able to defend themselves than him. 

In the morning, Erik woke, pleasantly surprised to see that his everyday small aches and pains had gone, and his body did not begrudge him the sudden and drastic increase in nightly activity either. 

Thor was still curled up around him, apparently enjoying the snuggle very much, although he did not need sleep the way humans do. 

They got out of bed and Erik headed for the kitchen to make some coffee, which he would never not have a soft spot for, magical apple or not. 

Thor went to the bathroom, spending a suspiciously long amount of time in there and exiting smelling like Erik’s raspberry and thyme shower gel and with his skin and hair still moist.

The coffee Erik had poured himself got cold on the counter. 

It was very hard to leave the bed while Thor was in it, Erik thought, but at some point he did have to and the moment he was alone, he was able to string two thoughts together again. Why did Thor want him when he could have anyone in the 9 realms? Was it because he was going to keep it a secret, since no one would believe an old dude who had been mind-controlled by Loki, especially if he claimed to have slept with Thor?

Erik thought long and hard about all his questions, and as soon as he stopped focusing on himself and how it all made him feel, he was able to think back of how hurt Thor had looked at the prospect of rejection. Maybe Thor simply trusted him and had grown fond of him in time. 

They had always been friends, since that night when Erik had recklessly and very bravely come to bust him out of SHIELD, sparing Thor from a close encounter with interrogation tactics that would forever cement in his mind the ugliness of the human race. Coulson was cunning and a good reader of people, but the information he had been after was not something Thor would have been able to provide. Add to that, the HYDRA presence among the ranks of the SHIELD suits and the procedural carte blanche their organisation enjoyed, and the recipe for torture was complete.

Erik had always thought the warm look of contained happiness that Thor always had for him was pity or perhaps mild admiration for something so perishable and fleeting, when the Swedish astrophysicist refused to fall apart under the pressure of inter-realm battles or even the guy with an ancient chip on his shoulder dead-set on shooting the magic Kool-Aid into the sky. 

He once tackled the issue of the enchanted apples and how Thor had offered him one without telling him in advance what it was. He would have still taken it and eaten it even if he HAD known. He was no fool, to wallow in moral qualms about cheating the passing of time. Dodging the Reaper had been his specialty for so long; he knew he could always use a hand. 

Off-duty Thor was a far more pleasant company than the hammer-happy deity from space whose job lately seemed to consist of putting out the fires Stark caused.

The Thor he had gotten to know was someone who could talk astrophysics and philosophy for days. Erik got shivers of anticipation down his spine whenever he would learn that Thor would drop in. Was it because of Thor’s looks, and the huge boost to Erik’s ego it was to know someone so flawless and coveted by everyone else had chosen him? To some small extent, yes, that too, but then again there were tens of tall and dreamy mortal men who could work out and get bigger than Thor while unable to count to two without removing their shirts. People bored Erik to tears, most of them anyway, because he always had to find ways to dumb his ideas down and sometimes it felt like he was the only adult among kindergarten children who didn’t even want to open the astrophysics colouring book. 

But Thor was perfectly able to lounge on the sofa with Pants sleeping on his belly and offer intelligent quips about the iterations Erik was working on. Thor thought in different patterns, unlike anyone else on Earth, which often meant fresh insights and surprising solutions for Erik’s work. 

Thor had also explained to him that he need not fret about what Odin had to say, since Odin was not in the position to judge where Thor stored his hammer, at least not while he rode his own grandson into battle. 

Erik liked that when they were together, he felt like time stood still. Just watching Thor laugh or stretch, eating some hazelnut cream cookies or walk around the house in soft cotton sweatpants was heaven enough. 

Thanks to Thor, he had begun to enjoy things he’d foolishly stayed away from, like bubble baths and patchouli shower scrubs, cocktails, fantastic sweets and body glitter. Thor took great delight in these exclusively Midgardian things and there was no one on the planet irresponsible enough to go to him and say “dude, das not manly!” 

The truth was, Thor *was* disarmingly beautiful, but so were many other people. What made him special was the gentleness and joy that came from beneath the golden skin, the honest smile that went up all the way and lit up his eyes. It was the formidable strength the thunder god used to open jam jars instead of destroying the world, which he was perfectly able to do and Erik knew that. 

Thor was the most beautiful being in existence when he took the string that fastened his ponytail and dragged it on the floor or through the air, watching Pants jump and chase it. 

Sometimes, Erik suspected Thor just came around to hang out with Pants, but then the asshole gave him *that* look and all doubts evaporated. 

It was perfect and glorious, until one day when they were sitting outside around the grill, frying mushrooms in a rice cream sauce. Thor looked like his mind was worlds away and a frown lingered over his features. 

“Everything alright?” Erik asked, waiting patiently for the answer, which he knew would come in time. 

He was right. 

Thor grabbed Pants and set him onto his lap, burying his hands into the ample fur for comfort. He seemed to just listen to the cat’s purr for long minutes before he sighed and spoke. 

“A new, darker storm is brewing in the depths of the cosmos. It threatens to bring destruction and oblivion to all those whom I love. I will die a warrior’s death defending the Nine.” 

Erik smiled. It was the dreams Thor had been having. Dreams and visions which had begun to visit Erik too, ever since he had eaten the magic apple. And unlike Thor, the astrophysicist saw a problem with multiple outcomes where Thor only saw yet another battle. 

As his PhD students could desperately confirm, dr. Selvig LOVED problems. 

“It might not come to that, Thor. But we might have to get your brother to help us.” He said. 

“Loki is… dead, Erik. As I have told you many moons ago.” Thor said, looking very hurt. 

Erik raised an eyebrow. 

“You know him better than me. Were swords and daggers ever enough to harm the God of Mischief?” 

Thor seemed to review all the evidence supporting or refuting that theory. He clearly did not like the conclusion his mind arrived to. 

“No, they were not,” he said, sighing. On the one hand, he was ready to jump on the possibility that Loki may be alive somewhere, even far away from him. On the other hand, he was embarrassed with how easily he was fooled, over and over again. “I may yet die nonetheless… though the cause of it might not be as glorious as I hope.”

“I’d much prefer if you didn’t. And if you didn’t have to go off fighting on the Universe’s back alleys,” Erik gave back. “I have use for you here.” 

(End)


End file.
